Planodftaph co



w my E V m Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET I ATTo'aNEY c. M. MYERS; ROCK PICKER, HABROW, AND POTATOBIGGER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.14| 19H m m 4% W I 1 V? c. M. MYERS.

ROCK PICKER, HARROW, AND POTATO DIGGER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.I4| I917.

1,318,901. Patented Oct. 14,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JINVENTOR ATTORNEY THE COLUMBIA PLANSEI'i APH co., WASHINGTON. n. c.

CASSIUS M. IVI- YERS, F SP-RINGFIEDD, MISSOURI.

ROGK-PICKER, minnow, AnnPoTATmnIGGE'n;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct-. 14-, 19 19:

Application filed August'14, 1917? Serial no. 186.1712

To all whomt-may concern:

Beit known that I, CAssins MYERS, a citizen of the United States,-residing at Springfield; in the county' of Greene and State ofMissouri;have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Rock-Pickers;Harrows; and Potato-Diggers, .of which-the following is: aspecification.

This invention relatesto agricultural implements and more particularlyto' potato or stone gathering; machines; I

The" object -ofthe invention is to provide a' machine of this"characterso constructed as to operate as combined harrow and gather-er,being especially: designed for gathering stones and potatoes, or'both'.

Another obj ect is to provide an' apparatus of this character which issimple in construction and'whi'chmay be cheaply'manu factured and easilyoperated and which, being formed of few parts, will not be read ilybroken; I 7

With the" foregoing and other objects in view, which will appearastlie'i description proceeds, the'invention resides inthecombin'ationa-nd arrangement ofparts and in the details o'fconstruction"hereinafter described and claimed, it being. understood" that changes inthe precise embodimentof the invention herein disclosed may be madewithin the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spiritof'th'e invention.

, In the accompanying drawings Figure 1" represents a side elevation ofan apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention and with atrailer shown attached thereto forreceiving. the articles gathered bythe machine. I

Fig. 2-is a plan view thereof, and

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view' of one' member of the clutch andits'actuating'le'ver.

In the emhodiment illustrateda supporting frame 1 is shown" which ispreferably rectangular in form, beingmounted at its rear endon tractionwheels Q'and-having a swiveled supporting wheel 3 detachably mounted inthe front cross bar 4 thereof This cross bar 4 is provided-- midway itsendsw-ith abearings-T which is designed to receive the standard 6ofwheel 3 when a single wheel is to be employed and is provided at itsopposite end with bearings 7 which are used when two wheels 3 are usedfor supportingzthe front endof the frame and which is desirable when themachine is to be operated over level ground. A single wheel ispreferahlewhenthe machine 'isused on hillsides or in placeswhere-tilting would be likely if twowheelswere used at the front.

This machine may be 1 drawn by any "suitable means and is here -shown-provided 7 at its front end witha tonguebro'kenofl"forcon'- venience inillustrationand as it forms no part of the invention-it will not" befurther shown or described; p

The wheels 2 are Hired totheopposite" ends of an axle 9* which extendstransversely of the machine and on which are slidably mounted clutchmembers 10 which are"d'e= signed to mesh with cooperating clutch members11 carried by the inner ends of the wheel hubs. Levers" 12' are engagedwith the clutch members 10 "and project upwardly into positionconvenient fo'rf actuation by the driver so'that when it is'de'siredtodis'con ne'ct said clutch members, the member 10 may bereadily shifted in the ordinary manner.

'Sprocket wheels 13' are" carried by the: clutch members 10 andaredesigned" toreceive motion from theturning ofthewheels 2' when theclutch members 10 "and" 11 are in mesh; itibeing understood thatthe'members 1O normally turn .loos'elyfon' the shaft .oraxle' 9 so thatwhen they are disconnected from? the members; 11' n'o'motion will tothe" sprocket wheels 13? 14" passaround thewheels 1'3 and iover othersprocket whee-ls l5ffi xe'd toa" shaft 16 which is journaled' in theupper end of arms 1 carried by standards'l. This shaft 16* also"oper'ates'as' a pivot for a' cc rrier' frame 17" and is designed toimpart motion to a carrier or conveyer 18; which travels in" said frame;

The carrier 18" as here shown is composed of" two" endless sprocket"chains 19 and 20 connected by'toothed" cross bars 21" which are spacedapart suitable intervals with the teeth 2-2 thereof projecting outwardlyandwhich are adapted to engage the articles gathered" and" move themupwardly over' an inclined'slatted botto1n' 23"which is-mounted' toswingiverticall'y'between standards 1"car'-" riedby frame 1; The slats24 from which this bottom is formed have their free front endsprojected" forwardly, pointed and curwdslightly upwardas shown at 25' toprovide fingers orblades'which are adapted forscooping. lllp--tl16articles to be gathered andwhmh also may operate as harrows forpulverlzing or breaking up the earth over which the machine is drawn.The rear ends of these slats 24 are deflected downwardly to form aninclined chute 26, which is designed to deliver the gathered articlesinto a suitable receptacle which is here shown in the form of a wagon2'7 detachably connected with the rear end of the frame 1. Two of thesewagons or trailers 27 are preferably supplied with each machine so thatwhen one is being dumped the other may be connected with the machine andthus avoid the necessity of stopping the machine during the dumping ofthe wagon.

A seat 28 is mounted on this machine for the use of the driver and ahood 28 is preferably provided for covering up the conveyer 18 therebypreventing dust from rising and discommoding the operator.

The conveyer chains 19 and 20 pass over sprocket wheels 29 and carriedrespectively by shafts 31 and 16, the former of which is disposed at thelower end of the inclined bottom 23 and the latter is mountet at theupper end thereof as is shown clearly in the drawings. It is to beunderstood that two of these sprocket wheels 29 and 30 are provided ateach side of the machine to support and transmit motion to the chains 19i and 20 of the carrier. The shaft 31 is mounted in suitable standards31 which project upwardly from the side slats 21 and bell crank levers32 are fulcrun'ied on stub shafts carried by the side members of theframe 1. Each lever 32 is connected with a standard 31 by means of anarcuate link 31 so that when said lever 32 is actuated the slattedbottom 23 with the carrier 18 mounted thereon will be raised or loweredaccording to the direction in which said lever is turned it beingobvious that when the lever is swung down toward the driver the bottomwill be raised and when it is moved outwardly or upwardly the bottomwill be correspondingly lowered. Segmental racks 35 are also carried bythe side members of frame 1 in position to be engaged by looking dogs 36carried by the levers 32 so that when said levers have been swung in thedesired position they may be locked in such position by the engagementof the dogs with the racks in the ordinary manner.

In the use of this improved apparatus, the parts are in the positionshown in Fig. 1, in which position the slatted bottom carrying thedigging blades is lowered ready for passage over the ground containingthe articles to be gathered. The machine is then drawn over the groundand the blades 25 operate to pulverize the surface as well as to scoopup the articles contained thereon which latter are conveyed up theinclined slatted bottom 23 by means of the toothed the form of a traineror wagon 27.

\Vhen it is desired to convey the apparatus from field to field, thelevers 12 are actuated to disengage the clutch members 10 from themembers 11 so that no motion will be imparted by the rotation of thewheels 2 and the levers 32 being swung downwardly and rearwardly willoperate to raise the front end of the slatted bottom 23 which carriesthe conveyer 18 thereby positioning the blades 25 out of contact wlththe surface over whlch the machme is drawn.

From the foregoing description, taken in connectlon with theaccompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and of themethod of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the artto which the invention appertains and while I have described theprinciple of operation of the invention together with the device which Inow consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have itunderstood that the device shown is merely illustrative and that suchchanges may be made as are within the scope of the claimed invention.

I claim:

In a. machine of the class described, a substantially rectangular framemounted on wheels, standards rising from the rear end of said frame,arms extending obliquely forward from said standards, a shaft journaledin said arms, driving mechanism connecting said shaft and wheels, acarrier frame pivotally mounted on said shaft, a carrier mounted totravel in said frame and to receive motion from said shaft, an inclinedslatted bottom mounted to swing vertically on said standards andarranged under said carrier supporting the lower end thereof, the slatsof said bottom being extended forwardly and shaped to form gatherers,and a lever and link connection between said slatted bottom and saidrectangular frame to provide for the raising and lowering of said bottomand carrier.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CASSIUS M. MYERS. Witnesses:

EMILY J ANE HUBBLE, O. E. Rene.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. 0.

